Becoming Alpha

Chapter 2

Hope

For so long all I wanted was to get out, to be free of my dad, and have a normal life, but in all the scenarios I saw, I never imagined that he would be gone. When I woke up in my bed, I almost believed it had all been a nightmare and that I would find him once I got downstairs. I changed as usual and made my way to the kitchen, expecting my dad to be there with his warriors, but it was my brother and unfamiliar faces that I found.

"Good, you are awake," my brother said. "I'm sorry, you were kind of hysterical last night, so we had to sedate you," he added, explaining my foggy thoughts and the fact that I didn't remember going to bed last night.

"My dad died yesterday, how did you expect me to be?" I asked with just a little resentment in my words.

"Dad was crazy, he had to be taken down. It was for everyone's sake," he said, his tone begging for understanding. The problem was that there was not an ounce of remorse in his words.

"I don't even know you anymore," I said, feeling a little sad and overwhelmed. I had wished for my brother to return, but I had never expected something like this to happen. "Is that your True Mate?" I finally asked, looking at the woman by his side.

"No, she is my chosen mate. True Mates are a problem, their link is so strong that they can't survive each other. It was what ended our dad, he couldn't survive losing his True Mate, so I chose a woman that's perfect for me," his words felt rehearsed, hollow, but still, there was conviction behind them.

"That's crazy," I couldn't help but say, and I could tell that none of the people there agreed with me. They were looking at me with diverse feelings. I got hostility from his chosen mate, curiosity from the new Alpha, and lust from the new unfamiliar face.

"I did this for you too, you know?" my brother said, a little angry. "I wanted to help you, Helena."

"I go by Hope now," I corrected him. "Grandmother named me before she died, and since she was the Alpha before dad, her word stays."

"You don't need an Alpha name, little girl," the new Alpha said.

"Maybe she does," the other guy corrected him. "If I'm going to become the next Alpha, and she agrees to be my chosen mate, she will need an Alpha name."

"Excuse me?!" I had to be mistaken, there was no way he had just said that.

"That's my mate's brother, and since I don't want to be the next Alpha he might take my place," my brother said, as if that wasn't a big deal.

"Have you lost your mind?" What had happened to him while he was away? It was ridiculous what he was saying. "First you throw your True Mate away, and now your rightful position as the heir of this Pack? And what about me? What if I want the position?"

"Your father lost to me, so now the rightful heirs are my children," the Alpha spoke for the first time. "But Danger is right, you could be a good partner for him. But you are young, not even eighteen yet, you have time to get to meet him and make up your mind. But being his chosen mate might be your only chance to be an Alpha in this Pack, that now belongs to me," he smiled, but it wasn't a good smile, it was predatory and dangerous.

I turned to walk away, disgusted with the situation.

"Where are you going? I thought you were going to join us for breakfast," my brother said.

"I lost my appetite," I replied as I walked back to my room. It wasn't until I was inside that I realized I should have walked outside. It was just that I had to remain inside for so long, that I didn't know anything else. Not five minutes later, there was a knock on my door, and before I could answer my brother opened the door and offered me a plate of food.

"You need to eat. And we need to talk. I kind of understand that you are upset. I left you alone with him, and I guess he convinced you that he was right in what he was doing," he started.

"I knew he was wrong, I was practically a prisoner in the house, but I also knew where he was coming from. He needed help, not to be killed," I tried to reason with him.

"There was no other choice, Doom knows a few cases like this, and it never gets better," my brother said.

"Who is Doom," I asked.

"Our new Alpha," he looked at me as if I should have known this.

"He shouldn't be here. Why did you bring him here? If you didn't want to take control of the Pack, then you should have left it as it was."

"Doom is the brother of the Alpha of another Pack. He was working as the Beta there, but he needed more. So it all worked out," again, it was as if my brother couldn't understand what he had done wrong.

"No, it doesn't work out at all! He killed our dad! How can you be so casual about that? Losing our mom wasn't enough for you?" I wanted to hit some sense into him, but I couldn't move.

"We lost both of them that day. The man our dad became, he wasn't our dad anymore. You should know it better than anyone. He became so focused on keeping us alive, that he forgot to let us live," there was bitterness in his words, and I knew he was right about that, still he had gone too far.

"It was just for a few more weeks, then I would have turned eighteen, and I could leave for a while, look for my True Mate and then come back, maybe take over," that had been the plan for a long time, something I had spent hours discussing with my grandmother.

"A True Mate is not the answer you might think it is, and what if your True Mate is not Alpha material? You will see that this was the best option, you might not like it right now, but in time you will. Now eat something and rest some more, we will have a party this afternoon to celebrate our new Alpha," he said, again dismissing my feelings.

With that, he left, and at that moment I hated him, for everything he had done. For leaving me, for betraying our ideals and taking a chosen mate, for putting an outsider in charge of our Pack, for causing our dad to die, but mostly, for pretending he was doing me a favor.

I stayed in my room most of the day, but when I saw out of my window that people were gathering, I decided it was time to get out and see what the rest of the Pack thought about this.

"Glad you decided to join us," our new Alpha's son said, and I just ignored him and kept walking, but he came and grabbed me by the arm. "I know that losing your position as the Pack princess is difficult, but you can get it back very easily."

"You think that's what I'm worried about? I don't care about that. My dad just died!" Why is it that no one was getting that I was mourning?

"From what I heard, he wasn't a very good father, you should be glad he is gone," he said as if they had done me a favor by killing my dad.

"You know nothing! Stop talking nonsense and leave me alone!" I told him, almost yelling and getting some attention. One of my dad's warriors moved closer as if he was going to offer help, but stopped before reaching us. I pushed the infuriating man away and got free, then walked away from him.

"No matter how you play it, you will be my chosen mate. Mark my words, I always get what I want," his words were both a threat and a promise, and I hated the fear I felt because I was afraid he might be right. I didn't like it, but there was not much I could do about it, as the son of the Alpha, he had the upper hand, and I feared what that could mean for me. I felt very alone at that moment.